Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are not normally manufactured for a certain product or use, they are by-products of an incomplete organic combustion. Most PAHs have no known use, however a select few are in products such as coal, tar, creosote, crude oil, some medicines or dyes, and moth repellent. There are not many positive affects from PAHs other than repelling insects and helping strengthen building products. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are found in every country as they are found in the environment naturally, however China, India, Canada, Mexico, and Australia probably create the most as they use a lot of fossil fuels and export a large amount of PAHs.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons can greatly affect the body. They get into the body by breathing them in, eating or drinking something that is contaminated by them, or through your skin. The major effect they have once in the body is that they start to shred your DNA. The shredding of DNA then causes many different types of cancer. This can then lead to serious cancer and in some cases death. PAHs also affect the environment. They react with almost every system. When they degrade they break down it turns into hydrocarbons, which are a type of green house gas. They only way to fully get ride of PAHs is to always have a complete organic combustion. From the economic and political point of view PAHs are very important. They are in or produced by so many products that we have in our market now a days. For example most of our transportation methods, Energy sources, and fire create PAHs. If we band them one we would have to totally rework how we did most of our everyday tasks, but there would still be PAHs in the air as they are created from forest fires and volcanoes as well. Therefore banning PAHs completely from the planet is not possible.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in high quantities is extremely harmful both for human health and the environment. It causes cancer and adds to the big problem we face with climate change at the moment. That being said I don’t believe we need to take extreme action. There are already regulations in the places where it is produced to keep the levels down. And we cannot band them completely as they are naturally produced. The only thing we can do is to keep moving towards alternate energy that does not involve organic combustion or to make the machines and products that do run on that more efficient. It would hurt the economy and our life styles way too much if we band polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons completely.
Background
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are not normally manufactured for a certain
product or use, they are by-products of common chemical reactions. They are a group of around 100 different chemicals that are normally created when an incomplete organic combustion happens. However if we did not have PAHs, or steered clear of them, it would be impossible to have many of the products we use on a daily basis.
Most PAHs have no known use. However, when we do manufacture PAHs for a known
use they are in a few different products; coal tar, creosote, roofing tar, crude oil, some medicines or dyes and plastics. Naphthalene is the most well known, it is used for making dyes, in explosives, plastics, lubricants, and moth repellent. There aren’t many positives to PAHs as they can cause many health issues, however they do help us repel insects and they are good to have in building materials as they don’t burn or dissolve in water easily. Also we would not have all of our transportation or anything running on fossil fuel without emitting some PAHs into the environment.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are found in all countries, as it is a left over product
of most combustion. France and the rest of Europe have the least amount of PAHs, as they are slowly changing their power sources away from fossil fuels and using more nuclear, solar, and wind power. China and India probably have the most as they are now using a lot more fossil fuels than other countries.
Production
There is not a great commercial production of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Most are created from an incomplete combustion of organic matter like; motor vehicles, gas-burning engines, furnaces, cigarette smoke, industrial shoot and smoke. Naturally it comes from volcanoes, oil, and forest fires. However there are three types of PAHs that are commercially produced in the United States; acenaphthene, acenaphthylene, and anthracene. There are quite a few ways to manufacture acenaphthene. All involve great heat being added to the substance. You can make acenaphthene by heating ethylene and benzene or naphthalene up. Or by heating tetrahydroacenaphthene with sulfur at 180*C. Normally the purity of acenaphthene when made is 98%. Anthracene is made from recovering and purifying what is known as “anthracene oil” or “green oil” from coal tar. To purify you must either heat or vacuum the substance to remove the contaminations. There are many U.S. companies that manufacture anthracene. The PAHs that are commercial produced however are not a significant source of the compound found in the environment.
3C2H4 + C6H6 + O2 -> C12H10 + 4H2O
5C10H8 + O2 -> 4C12H10 + 2CO2
S + C12H18O4 -> C12H10 + 4H2O + S
The synthesis process is adding heat to the substance, as Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are created from an incomplete combustion happens. The incomplete combustion creates rings of carbon bonds that have no been fully broken. The rings, normally six, are the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and energy that has been wasted. If a complete combustion occurs no PAHs are produced.
A few diagrams of PAH structures:
Human health implications
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are present all over our environment; in our homes, outside, and where we work. Normally we are not exposed to just one PAH but a group of them, so it is hard to tell what effects each one has on humans. PAHs are present in vapors and dust as they attach on to them, cigarette smoke, asphalt roads, vehicle exhaust, coal, coal tar, burning of any type of organic material, hazardous waste sites, and waste incineration.
There have been tests run on laboratory animals to find out the effects of PAHs. None have been tested on humans, however, from the tests done on mice and hamsters we can come to the conclusion that the results would be much the same for humans. Because many of the results lead to cancer or death it would be unethical to test on humans.
There are many possible dangers for our health that are caused by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. PAHs get into the body by breathing them in, eating or drinking something that is contaminated by them, or through your skin. The major effect they have once in the body is that they start to shred your DNA. The shredding of DNA then causes many different types of cancer. PAHs hit the places the body regenerates the most causing cancer in weak points. This type of cancer is generally thought, but not back up by scientists, to be cancer that could have been avoided. Other illnesses caused by PAHs are Black lung, emphysema, along with other respiratory problems. Other systems involved include nerve system, endocrine, and reproductive.
Environmental implications
When polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are released into the environment they most often go into the air as a gas or attach on to dust particles. They also are found in water and soil. However PAHs do not dissolve well in water, they normally attach to solid particles and sink to the bottom. In water microorganisms are the ones that break down the PAHs, this process can take weeks or even months to complete. In the air however PAHs break down in a period of days or weeks by reacting with sunlight and other chemicals in the air. When polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons break down it turns into hydrocarbons, which are a type of green house gas. PAHs can also be found in plants and animals, and normally the concentrate is higher in them compared to in soil and water.
The only way to truly dispose of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is to always have a full combustion where everything is burnt. That however is not realistic right at the moment. Another way is to enforce restrictions on the processes that PAHs are a by-product of. >include at least 3 balanced chemical reactions
Economic/Political Impact
If polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were to be banned we would no longer have many things that have become essential to our everyday lives. For example most of our transportation methods, Energy sources, and fire create PAHs. It would not be at all reasonable or possible to fully banned PAHs partly because most PAHs are either by products or are made naturally in the environment.
There are not alternatives for all polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, some we will never be able to replace. However the ones we can replace are our fuel source for cars and make it so that it has a full combustion, giving us more energy per gallon and getting ride of the PAHs. Also switching our energy source over from fossil fuel to nuclear or other alternative energy would reduce the amount of PAHs substantially. The cost of alternatives varies too much to say and the alternatives also have benefits.
Any product that has an incomplete combustion in the process of making it we would not have if polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were banned. For example all our transportation methods that run on fuel, and any factories that run on fuel. Also we would not be aloud to burn any wood or have barbeques as they also produce PAHs.
There are many countries in the world that export polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Most is in the form of oil or tar. The United States exports some but it also imports PAHs. Some countries the United States imports from are; the Netherlands, France, West Germany, Canada, Mexico, and Australia.
If there was a ban on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons our lives would have to change drastically. We would all be forced, like stated before, to change our fuel sources, transportation and get ride of some products like mothballs. It would be a big change and cost quite a bit of money. There are however regulations already in effect in factories and plants that produce PAHs to make sure there is not a huge amount in the air.
Any oil or tar business would get mad and protest if there was a banned on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The banned would put them out of business. Also the United States government would probably not agree to it, as oil is a major business in the United States.
Summary
There are many health and environmental benefits of getting ride of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Health wise reducing PAHs would reduce cancer and other life threatening diseases such as Black lung, emphysema, along with other respiratory problems. In the environment PAHs when they break down become hydrocarbons, which are a type of green house gas. Banning PAHs would help our planet in this great time of climate change, as well as make us healthier. However PAHs cannot be banned. They are the byproduct of any incomplete organic combustion and therefore are all over the place and most often are produced naturally. If we were to ban polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons completely we would no longer be able to use fire, have all the transportation and energy uses we have today. It would change our lives drastically. We do need to put restrictions on PAHs though. There are already a few restrictions put in place where it is produced but none anywhere else. The only realistic actions to take are; to be harsh about the restrictions we already have, and to keep moving towards alternate energy. Energy in which doesn’t involve organic combustion. Individuals however can stop using mothballs and stop smoking and that will cut their exposure from PAHs down quite a bit.
Table of Contents
Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are not normally manufactured for a certain product or use, they are by-products of an incomplete organic combustion. Most PAHs have no known use, however a select few are in products such as coal, tar, creosote, crude oil, some medicines or dyes, and moth repellent. There are not many positive affects from PAHs other than repelling insects and helping strengthen building products. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are found in every country as they are found in the environment naturally, however China, India, Canada, Mexico, and Australia probably create the most as they use a lot of fossil fuels and export a large amount of PAHs.Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons can greatly affect the body. They get into the body by breathing them in, eating or drinking something that is contaminated by them, or through your skin. The major effect they have once in the body is that they start to shred your DNA. The shredding of DNA then causes many different types of cancer. This can then lead to serious cancer and in some cases death. PAHs also affect the environment. They react with almost every system. When they degrade they break down it turns into hydrocarbons, which are a type of green house gas. They only way to fully get ride of PAHs is to always have a complete organic combustion. From the economic and political point of view PAHs are very important. They are in or produced by so many products that we have in our market now a days. For example most of our transportation methods, Energy sources, and fire create PAHs. If we band them one we would have to totally rework how we did most of our everyday tasks, but there would still be PAHs in the air as they are created from forest fires and volcanoes as well. Therefore banning PAHs completely from the planet is not possible.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in high quantities is extremely harmful both for human health and the environment. It causes cancer and adds to the big problem we face with climate change at the moment. That being said I don’t believe we need to take extreme action. There are already regulations in the places where it is produced to keep the levels down. And we cannot band them completely as they are naturally produced. The only thing we can do is to keep moving towards alternate energy that does not involve organic combustion or to make the machines and products that do run on that more efficient. It would hurt the economy and our life styles way too much if we band polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons completely.
Background
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are not normally manufactured for a certainproduct or use, they are by-products of common chemical reactions. They are a group of around 100 different chemicals that are normally created when an incomplete organic combustion happens. However if we did not have PAHs, or steered clear of them, it would be impossible to have many of the products we use on a daily basis.
Most PAHs have no known use. However, when we do manufacture PAHs for a known
use they are in a few different products; coal tar, creosote, roofing tar, crude oil, some medicines or dyes and plastics. Naphthalene is the most well known, it is used for making dyes, in explosives, plastics, lubricants, and moth repellent. There aren’t many positives to PAHs as they can cause many health issues, however they do help us repel insects and they are good to have in building materials as they don’t burn or dissolve in water easily. Also we would not have all of our transportation or anything running on fossil fuel without emitting some PAHs into the environment.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are found in all countries, as it is a left over product
of most combustion. France and the rest of Europe have the least amount of PAHs, as they are slowly changing their power sources away from fossil fuels and using more nuclear, solar, and wind power. China and India probably have the most as they are now using a lot more fossil fuels than other countries.
Production
There is not a great commercial production of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Most are created from an incomplete combustion of organic matter like; motor vehicles, gas-burning engines, furnaces, cigarette smoke, industrial shoot and smoke. Naturally it comes from volcanoes, oil, and forest fires. However there are three types of PAHs that are commercially produced in the United States; acenaphthene, acenaphthylene, and anthracene. There are quite a few ways to manufacture acenaphthene. All involve great heat being added to the substance. You can make acenaphthene by heating ethylene and benzene or naphthalene up. Or by heating tetrahydroacenaphthene with sulfur at 180*C. Normally the purity of acenaphthene when made is 98%. Anthracene is made from recovering and purifying what is known as “anthracene oil” or “green oil” from coal tar. To purify you must either heat or vacuum the substance to remove the contaminations. There are many U.S. companies that manufacture anthracene. The PAHs that are commercial produced however are not a significant source of the compound found in the environment.3C2H4 + C6H6 + O2 -> C12H10 + 4H2O
5C10H8 + O2 -> 4C12H10 + 2CO2
S + C12H18O4 -> C12H10 + 4H2O + S
The synthesis process is adding heat to the substance, as Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are created from an incomplete combustion happens. The incomplete combustion creates rings of carbon bonds that have no been fully broken. The rings, normally six, are the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and energy that has been wasted. If a complete combustion occurs no PAHs are produced.
A few diagrams of PAH structures:
Human health implications
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are present all over our environment; in our homes, outside, and where we work. Normally we are not exposed to just one PAH but a group of them, so it is hard to tell what effects each one has on humans. PAHs are present in vapors and dust as they attach on to them, cigarette smoke, asphalt roads, vehicle exhaust, coal, coal tar, burning of any type of organic material, hazardous waste sites, and waste incineration.There have been tests run on laboratory animals to find out the effects of PAHs. None have been tested on humans, however, from the tests done on mice and hamsters we can come to the conclusion that the results would be much the same for humans. Because many of the results lead to cancer or death it would be unethical to test on humans.
There are many possible dangers for our health that are caused by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. PAHs get into the body by breathing them in, eating or drinking something that is contaminated by them, or through your skin. The major effect they have once in the body is that they start to shred your DNA. The shredding of DNA then causes many different types of cancer. PAHs hit the places the body regenerates the most causing cancer in weak points. This type of cancer is generally thought, but not back up by scientists, to be cancer that could have been avoided. Other illnesses caused by PAHs are Black lung, emphysema, along with other respiratory problems. Other systems involved include nerve system, endocrine, and reproductive.
Environmental implications
When polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are released into the environment they most often go into the air as a gas or attach on to dust particles. They also are found in water and soil. However PAHs do not dissolve well in water, they normally attach to solid particles and sink to the bottom. In water microorganisms are the ones that break down the PAHs, this process can take weeks or even months to complete. In the air however PAHs break down in a period of days or weeks by reacting with sunlight and other chemicals in the air. When polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons break down it turns into hydrocarbons, which are a type of green house gas. PAHs can also be found in plants and animals, and normally the concentrate is higher in them compared to in soil and water.The only way to truly dispose of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is to always have a full combustion where everything is burnt. That however is not realistic right at the moment. Another way is to enforce restrictions on the processes that PAHs are a by-product of.
>include at least 3 balanced chemical reactions
Economic/Political Impact
If polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were to be banned we would no longer have many things that have become essential to our everyday lives. For example most of our transportation methods, Energy sources, and fire create PAHs. It would not be at all reasonable or possible to fully banned PAHs partly because most PAHs are either by products or are made naturally in the environment.There are not alternatives for all polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, some we will never be able to replace. However the ones we can replace are our fuel source for cars and make it so that it has a full combustion, giving us more energy per gallon and getting ride of the PAHs. Also switching our energy source over from fossil fuel to nuclear or other alternative energy would reduce the amount of PAHs substantially. The cost of alternatives varies too much to say and the alternatives also have benefits.
Any product that has an incomplete combustion in the process of making it we would not have if polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were banned. For example all our transportation methods that run on fuel, and any factories that run on fuel. Also we would not be aloud to burn any wood or have barbeques as they also produce PAHs.
There are many countries in the world that export polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Most is in the form of oil or tar. The United States exports some but it also imports PAHs. Some countries the United States imports from are; the Netherlands, France, West Germany, Canada, Mexico, and Australia.
If there was a ban on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons our lives would have to change drastically. We would all be forced, like stated before, to change our fuel sources, transportation and get ride of some products like mothballs. It would be a big change and cost quite a bit of money. There are however regulations already in effect in factories and plants that produce PAHs to make sure there is not a huge amount in the air.
Any oil or tar business would get mad and protest if there was a banned on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The banned would put them out of business. Also the United States government would probably not agree to it, as oil is a major business in the United States.
Summary
There are many health and environmental benefits of getting ride of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Health wise reducing PAHs would reduce cancer and other life threatening diseases such as Black lung, emphysema, along with other respiratory problems. In the environment PAHs when they break down become hydrocarbons, which are a type of green house gas. Banning PAHs would help our planet in this great time of climate change, as well as make us healthier. However PAHs cannot be banned. They are the byproduct of any incomplete organic combustion and therefore are all over the place and most often are produced naturally. If we were to ban polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons completely we would no longer be able to use fire, have all the transportation and energy uses we have today. It would change our lives drastically. We do need to put restrictions on PAHs though. There are already a few restrictions put in place where it is produced but none anywhere else. The only realistic actions to take are; to be harsh about the restrictions we already have, and to keep moving towards alternate energy. Energy in which doesn’t involve organic combustion. Individuals however can stop using mothballs and stop smoking and that will cut their exposure from PAHs down quite a bit.Public Service Announcement
Bibliography